City of Bones and reasons why I loved it

First of all, lets start with the cover:



look how deliciously beautiful it is, with the shininess and muscles <3 also, I've come to notice nearly everyone on book covers are beautiful. I don't know how it happens they just all are. Ah, well.

The reasons why I love this book are simple (and will involve a little bit of spoiler alerts later on ;3). It has everything one could possibly want.  People fighting demons and monsters (including but not limited to vampires and werewolves. its just unfortunate that the Jacob of this book is more like a creepy uncle and the Edward is a hispanic guy that tries to kill the main character, but we can't be picky. After all, even that would make a better love story than Twilight), some romance (also including but not limited to a ridiculous amounts of unrequited love), a setting in a hip and happening futuristic New York City, and delicious amounts of lols, backstabbing, and family secrets.

The writing was also very well done. Though some of the decriptions perhaps did confuse me a little bit, most of the time the authors descriptions were fitting and the story moved along at a nice pace. I don't know, maybe all of the great plot twists would have been more dramatic if I hadn't accidently read the back of the 2ND book before the first. Pretty much was just one long paragraph of spoiler alerts.

Moral of the story: when you stock books on book shelves, make them in order. Plzkaythnx.

I also enjoyed the main character Clary, and not just because she reminded me exactly of one of my friends. With the right amount of stubborn and spunkiness, she has a lot of potential to enter my list of top heriones, especially with the potential shes shown with knife throwing. So far Alanna and Deryn are very lonely on that list. (From the Song of the Lioness series and the books Leviathan, Behemoth, and, Goliath respectfully.) Also I really enjoyed the characters Jace and Alec shipped together. Sure, Alec was just a little annoying, but he tried and he has good taste in guys so I'm all for it. Jace is cocky in one of those comical relief ways so he really kept the story from falling into the depths of the angsty-missing-parents abyss.

And now this is where we enter the dark forest of spoilers.

Hear that?

SPOILERS AHEAD. COVER YOUR EARS...and eyes AND TURN BACK NOW. ONCE YOU READ YOU NEVER GO BACK.

This is your last chance.

LAST CHANCE

LAST ONE

OKAY HERE I GO! incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest incest

/coughcough Sure, I saw the whole Valentine being Clary's father coming. If Clary ever bothered to do the math. Lets see, her mother was married to Valentine. Clary is like 16 or something. Unless there was an insta-divorce, there sure wouldn't be enough time for her mom to leave Valentine or wait until he died or something, meet someone new, and then have Clary. Unless it was a one night stand. I find that doubtful though, cause they must of had some type of relationship.

The whole siblings thing was surprising well, if you didn't read the back of the 2nd book first. I was completely fine with the whole thing however. They didn't know. /shrug I mean, now they will angst about it and not be perfect together, but in their defence they didn't know.

As a final note. Was I the only one that got the creepy uncle guy from Luke?

Misc rambling! :3

I have about three topics that I want to chat about in this post. Maybe four. I might throw in a surprise section. Just to throw you all off. :) And yes, I'm referring to the people who are reading this as "you all". Because I've had more than one person read one of my posts. Progress? Maybe. Anyways.

Point a) Small Bookstores

I find them utterly charming. Don't get me wrong. Barnes and Noble is (almost) sure to have whatever you're looking for. Except it seems the sequels of the Song of the Lioness series. /coughcough .  >.> And online buying is easy and convenient. (But I hate waiting to read a book. Am I really the only one who wants to read their book right when they first buy it? I'm so impatient not even kidding.) But there is something absolutely amazing about small bookstores. My mom and I went to a local bookstore, and while I STILL COULDN'T FIND THE SEQUELS TO SONG OF THE LIONESS SERIES I did get two books. Reviews coming soon! I've heard from others that these books are absolutely great so I'm excited to read them. The best thing about small bookstores is you don't feel that awkward for asking the person for recommendations. Plus, after a few trips every time in the bookstore you start chatting with the owner. Not to mention that the owner's dog (the cutest, most adorable thing ever. it looked like a lamb. a frikkin lamb.) hung around so there was extra cuteness. The fact that its also across from an amazing ice cream place is just bonus points. :)

Point b) Lets talk about Genres

If you've read any of my previous posts you'll kinda get the feeling of the genres I naturally go for. I love adventure, action, fantasy, and historical. Preferably they would all have some sprinkling of romance in it. I also love books with strong female characters. I guess I have some secret super feminist in me that gets so annoyed when the heroine can't do anything but get saved and whine. :/ 

I don't want all of these reviews to be JUST those genres though, so I'm thinking that I'm going to start branching out. Maybe choosing a random book at the library. One of those LETS CLOSE MY EYES AND RANDOMLY PICK A BOOK AND HOPE I DON'T RUN INTO SOMEONE things. Even if its about cliques and proms and boys and drama....... which I tend to avoid in my books. /sigh BEING A TEENAGE GIRL IS SO HARD. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO READING. 

So yeah. If you do stick around and read more of my blog. Which I hope you do! /awkwardly hopes that didn't sound desperate.

Ah

Hmm...

Moving on then.

-awkward pause-

Point q (because order is for squares)) People.. Looking... at my Blog.... *O*

I was kind of surprised when I logged into my blogger account and my blog views went from a sad modest 111 views (My favorite number.) to 120. In like, 2 days. Which meant nine people saw this. Which is really awesome. I checked and apparently stumble upon is amazing and has been bringing people here. YAY! Its a great feeling when 5 people view your blog in one day. ;o; If you read this and you have a google account just comment "french the llama". Nerdfighter

Point asdfjk) My mom is awesome

My mom is awesome because she actually used books to buy 29 hours of happiness. (She originally wanted 48 but I bargained with her until she lowered it.) Still not sure how thats gonna work out, but I got two books out of the deal so... I'M NOT COMPLAINING.

Note: this is why I should stick to book reviews and never be allowed to ramble. because I will keep going....and going...and going...and going. 

Cold Sassy Tree and Summer Reading

Cold Sassy Tree was an.... interesting book to say the least. It offers a look into a small southern town through the eyes of a 15 year old teenage boy, whose grandmother passes away. Shortly after, three weeks to be exact, his grandfather marries a young woman named Love Simpson, totally turning the small town of Cold Sassy on its head. As the book continues you are given a lot of different opinions on the big subjects: love, death, and religion. All of them vary, but each has their own good points. One thing that struck me was the death of Uncle Camp. A thoroughly insignificant character, who I couldn't help but extremely dislike. His death makes you actually feel bad that you didn't like the character.

Over-all the book was good. Sure the whole grandfather liking the young lady was creepy. And the whole grandson also liking the young lady was a bit creepy, but you kinda got used to it. This book was different than what I am used to for sure. I had more than a little trouble relating at all to the main character. Oh, and this book is so chock full of southern drawl that I had to read it section by section a bit at a time. Otherwise I would go crazy. Either that or wake up speaking like a southern belle.

But reading this book, as required by my high school, made me think about the pure silliness of some summer reading assignments. I go to an all girls high school, and naturally combined with the small-town and southern atmosphere, the just over-all strangeness of the book itself, and the main characters I couldn't relate at all to it. The next big thing is to go through it and manage to write an essay on the thing.

But thats an entirely different problem. Of all the coming of age books we had to be given, I sort of regret we were given this one. ><

Just my thoughts,
Owl Student

Song of the Lioness and Why I Love Genderbenders

Okay. I have to get it out now. I love genderbenders! What do I mean by genderbenders? The books where girls dress up like boys to get past social norms and kick some ass. I love those kind of books. Of course cross-dressing is all fun and games until somebody uses and abuses it. Its good in moderation, in times and instances where it makes sense, in books with strong female leads who can pull it off. There is nothing more annoying though when you read a book with a girl lying and dressing up as a boy who just can't do anything.

Though I must say I am glad that Alanna by Tamora Pierce isn't one of those books. This is by far one of the strongest heroines I have ever read about. She isn't perfect though. With a believable, natural talent, she actually gets this, has to work hard to make up for her weaknesses, AND SHE HAS THEM! For example, in the book when faced with an older bully, who was both bigger and stronger than her, rather than letting others fight her battles or giving in to him, she worked hard and learned to fight. She was beaten up a lot for not giving in, and it took her a while, but she worked hard and met her goals. 

She's stubborn and hot-headed, but she works hard for her goals, which is refreshing when you're faced with heroines who are just "lawl look how good at this I am". Yes, she has the whole "powerful magic" stuff, but instead of wielding it with ease, shes actually scared of using it. And when she does use it, she struggles with it and its only when shes desperate.

I was sort of relieved too that the first book isn't all about the romance. I enjoy romance, and I enjoy fantasy adventure, but I hate it when one overshadows the other.  This book gives you plenty of time to get to know the character and set up for what will be a great love triangle >:). Its refreshing. There are three more books ahead where they can get into the romance, so I'm happy one was set aside just to focus on the journey to how she gets there. 

Well anyways, I'd give this about 4 stars out of 5. The storyline is just a bit predictable, but other than that, its a great read. :]

The Fault in Our Stars: Another Reason Cancer Sucks

I knew going into it that I was going to cry. Its a book about cancer and I am known for crying during books and movies. I cried when Rue died in the Hunger Games (both with book and movie), cried when the dogs died in Where the Red Fern Grows, cried at the end of Marley and Me, cried at the end of the Notebook, and cried when I read Sarah's Key among other times. Surprisingly, unlike many of my friends, I never did cry during the Lion King. /weirdy Anyways, I don't want anyone to be turned away from this amazing book just because its going to be sad. Of course I'm not going to lie to you and tell you its some happy story about how the girl defeats her cancer and goes on to save some endangered animal and live a ridiculously fulfilling life inspiring others.

Cause its not.

But just because a story isn't happy doesn't mean there isn't something you can take away from it. (The Hunger Games has taught me this. Seriously, its DEFINITELY not a happy book and its majorly popular.)

The Fault in Our Stars follows Hazel, a girl with cancer, who meets Augustus at a cancer support group meeting. The two get to know each other and fall in love, along the way Hazel battling with her cancer getting worse and the urge to meet a Dutch author. Along the way they explore oblivion, life, love, and what ultimately matters.

This book, beautifully written by one of my new favorite authors: John Green (Nerdfighter, Video Vlogger, Professional leader of the Swindon Town Swiddlypoopers), had me crying from the middle to the end. But I just couldn't set it down. I had to know how it ended. Reading and watching the characters grow was a huge, moving experience for me. Made me look twice at what I was valuing. Its makes you think about the hard things, and every once in a while, especially with such well developed characters and superb writing, you need to read a book like that.

Cancer Sucks,
Le Owl

Manga: Why to read them?

I'm a fan of good stories, and I'm not afraid to admit that I've gotten into manga. Call me a nerd, but I have read some good manga. Having friends that love to read, I can understand the whole "I like reading, but manga is totally different", but I've found stories that I absolutely LOVE and can't imagine my life without. Is it awkward buying manga from time to time yes, but its worth it. I've read stories with great heroines, great plot twists, and for the artist in me, amazing art.

But if your not an artist you'll enjoy them too. My dear friend loves manga, but she couldn't draw to save her life.

Now, Japan/Korea/China are completely different countries and I can understand why some people would be "that stuff is not for me". I don't suggest starting with manga that take place in some ______ period of Japanese history or a manga that features some ancient japanese belief or tradition. That stuff can be complicated and for a person who had read A TON of manga, I still have to google things.

So if you want to explore the world of manga on a rainy day I would suggest these normal manga to get started. They won't scare you off with weirdness.

1. Ouran High School Host Club (my first manga <3)
2. Fruits Basket (though you'll realize as you read more and more that this is not the best series out there)
3. Skip Beat!

But most of all, just like books there is a wide verity of manga. Don't judge a book by its cover, or in manga by its art. Some of my favorite series art was kinda, unique, but I'm that way too.

Manga Lover,
Otaku Owl

Alright, I know I'm pretty off topic, but if you read through my rambling you will get to a book review I promise

ALRIGHT. DO YOU KNOW WHAT BOOK JUST CAME OUT YESTERDAY? (If you don't its okay, I'll give you a little hint, look at my first review) The newest series, created by the author of the Percy Jackson series came out and I AM SO EXCITED. Too bad it'll be FOREVER until I'm able to read it (absolute torture may I add) It looks pretty good and I'm interested to see whats in store! Squee~

Now I'm done with my little paragraph rambling and I'm ready to be my next review: Escape from Memory. This book is sooo great. (I read it on a Friday we had off) It features Kira, a girl who THINKS she normal (of course she isn't) until one night her friends hypnotize her and discover a long ago hidden memory that buried in the back of her mind. Shortly afterwards her mother disappears and suddenly a strange women appears, claiming to be her 'Aunt Memory'. Then Kira is kidnapped and taken to Crythe, a country where memory is everything and the people there are able to remember nearly everything that happens to them. Kira is wanted because she is the daughter of two very important political figures and her 'Aunt Memory' wants her to read a speech to them. In the mean time Kira's beast friend shows up, which adds to the conundrum. When Kira fails to read the speech correctly she finds out that the lady claiming to be her 'Aunt Memory' is actually Rona Cummins, a women who wants to gain money by selling the amazing technology that Kira's parents worked on, memory that is locked away in Kira's mind. Now she, her mother, and her best friend are held captive. Of course, if you want to know what happens you have to read the book.

I found this was a good book simply because it had an interesting story line that kept you reading. I also like Kira, but the fact remains that Rona made a most excellent antagonist. (After-all, what are books without antagonists? A bunch of words) So I do recommend that read it!